


A Place to Belong

by LemonBubble



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Episode: e049 Old Oak Doors Part B, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 16:25:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1948032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonBubble/pseuds/LemonBubble
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos's voice mail didn't quite say everything, but he tried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Place to Belong

**Author's Note:**

> Hey look, it's another "help I have feelings about OOD Part B" fic. Like there haven't been a thousand of those in the last two weeks.

_I remembered that I am not from Night Vale._

But, Carlos thought, that didn’t _really_ matter did it? He had lived in Night Vale for almost two years. Exactly two years, if time was to be trusted, which it wasn’t. He was fairly sure it had been a year since he went down to the underground city. He was completely certain that he would have officially been dating Cecil for a year one month from now. He hoped that he could get back home in time for that.

_I remembered that, as far as the laws of the universe are concerned, it is not where I belong._

And he wasn’t about to question the laws of the universe. Okay, that was a blatant lie. Carlos was a scientist, and scientists are the first in line to question the laws of the universe. Some things can’t be changed, but you could never know until you tried to change them. His time spent in Night Vale had taught Carlos that far better than any theoretical paper, and now he questioned the laws of the universe _all the time._

It was just that, the specific laws that applied right now? He had been testing those for weeks and all his result said that, according to _them_ , he didn’t belong in Night Vale.

Carlos didn’t like those laws much. Who were they to decide where he belonged? Shouldn’t that be something he got to decide for himself?

_Cecil, I don’t even remember how I got to Night Vale in the first places. I mean, where is Night Vale even? But I promise I will find a way back. It’ll just take a couple of days, a week max._

He turned away so the phone wouldn’t pick up his sigh. He _hoped_ he would be able to get back that soon, but honestly, he didn’t know. He was trying to be optimistic about it, but Night Vale was so hard to get to. He was sure he could do it though. After all, he got there once so he could get there again.

Right?

_I’ll be fine. I’m a scientist._

Carlos wondered what that meant. Did it mean anything any more? Or was it just something he said to reassure people, to make it look like he knew what he was doing? Did he say it to reassure Cecil? Did he say it to reassure himself? Was being a scientist enough? Here, now, in this desert, would being a scientist help at all?

_Cecil? A scientist is usually fine._

He regretted it as soon as he said it. He should have said always. Carlos knew how good Cecil was at picking up tiny shifts in the way people talked. Tone didn’t carry so well over the phone, but there was no way Cecil wouldn’t notice the change in words. He would realise how Carlos _really_ felt about the situation. The point of the phone call was to reassure Cecil, to let him know that everything would be okay and that Carlos would get home soon, but this would only worry him.

Well, he would know how bothered Carlos was now, so…

_Maybe a few weeks. I don’t know._

Carlos hesitated. He couldn’t stop there, but he was probably running out of time. It wouldn’t be long before the phone cut off the message. He had to say something good, something optimistic to end the message with.

_The upside is Dana was right. I have had 97% battery all day and decent reception! So we’ll at least get to talk every night._

That was much better. It had been weeks since Carlos had last talked to Cecil properly, and he didn’t actually realise until he said it, but he was really looking forward to a decent conversation with him. Even if it was just over the phone. Anything was better than voice mails and texts.

He hadn’t been cut off yet. Maybe he had just enough time…

_Best of luck at home. I love you._

He hung up and put the phone away, feeling better than he did just a minute ago. He wasn’t here with nothing. He had the masked army. He had a variety of meters and little beeping devices in his pockets that, according the Dana, would never run out of battery. He had the power to call Cecil whenever he needed to. He had his brain. He had science.

Carlos was going to prove to the universe that he belonged in Night Vale.


End file.
